Maker Faire 2012: Amazing Electric Cars

There were loads of amazing vehicles in the electric cars booths at Maker Faire Bay Area this year. Not the least interesting of which is the Stanford SolarCar Project shown above. This particular vehicle is the Xenith, one of several models made by the team.

According to the site, "The solar panel array that the team developed [for the Xenith] was the first known glass encapsulate array for a solar car. The team worked with Corning to source a special production of ultra-thin, ultra-strong glass... In the end, Xenith brought multiple breakthroughs to solar car racing, but the team did not have enough time to refine the car before the race. During the 2012-13 cycle, the Stanford Solar Car Project plans to focus on perfecting the new technologies in Xenith while refining those principles and applying them to a new car."

Incredibly impressive. But so too are the many other cars shown off at the show. Here are a few more:

Tesla

100 mph DIY Sports Car

This little white racer can get up to 100 mph! MAX is a home-built sports car by Jack McCornack, and while it isn't electric, it is impressive. It can run on diesel, biodiesel or veggie oil. And it is zippy!

C-1, a Gyroscopically Stabilized Motorcycle

I affectionately call this one a carcycle. The C-1 by Daniel Kim is "the world's first gyroscopically stabilized motorcycle" and it attempts to blend the efficiency of a motorcycle with the safety of a car.

This was one of the more popular vehicles at the show, in that it was certainly one of the oddest looking (odd being cool at Maker Faire, of course). There was a finished model and one that was opened up so we could see the guts of the vehicle.